Givers Take to Social Media to Find Causes

By

Emily Glazer

October 28, 2012

All it took was a tweet.

Cara Hafferty was skimming Twitter about a year ago when a tweet from SmallCanBeBig.org, a Boston charity, caught her eye. It described a local family who had fallen behind on rent because of an illness and lost wages. To get back on their feet, they needed about $1,500.

After checking the charity's website to vet its mission, Ms. Hafferty started volunteering and later donated money.

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A GPS system was implemented with the rig in order to launch a live map showings its current location.
charity: water

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Charity: water donor Brenden Mulligan sent out a tweet after learning his donation helped build a well in Ethiopia.
charity: water

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After the recent shooting of the young Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, GlobalGiving.org posted this image on Facebook with a link to a charity raising money to send girls to school in Pakistan.
GlobalGiving.org

"It was 140 characters or less but the message was pretty simple and caught my eye," says the social-media coordinator for Bin Ends Wine in Braintree, Mass.

From Facebook posts to Twitter feeds, charities are embracing social media as a tool to find, engage and keep donors long after the first check is written. Donors also are taking to social networks to find and share information about charities they deem worthy. But all that sharing, if not done wisely, can leave givers vulnerable to fraud.

Social media is "really expanding information, knowledge and involvement," says Ken Berger, president and chief executive of charity evaluator Charity Navigator. "But we've seen a lot of danger out there if you're not careful in how you use these things."

The Real Thing

Before you start "friending" or tweeting a charity, make sure it's a legitimate organization. It's easy for scammers to target you these days—using information, interests and opinions you've posted and shared on social networks.

It's also easy for a bogus Facebook page, blog or Twitter feed to look pretty authentic. But some giveaways include odd fonts, colors or type sizes, says Lindsay Nichols, head of social media at GuideStar USA, a nonprofit that analyzes charity information.

The lesson here is to not take a Facebook post or tweet at its word. A charitable organization using social media should have a website as well.

Go on the site and make sure the charity is a legitimate 501(c)(3) organization, a tax-exempt, nonprofit corporation or association. Sites typically contain a copy of the charity's Form 990 or 990-EZ filing to the Internal Revenue Service, which establishes its tax-exempt status. There also should be any audited financial documents and the charity's mission statement.

The attorney general's office in the state where the organization is registered (big red flag if it isn't registered) should be able to provide you information, says Liz Livingston Howard, associate director of the Center for Nonprofit Management at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management in Illinois.

Also go to sites that vet and rate nonprofits. CharityNavigator.org rates more than 5,500 charities, based on accountability, transparency, results and financials. GuideStar.org analyzes the income information and tax forms of more than one million charities granted tax-exempt status by the IRS.

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Lars Leetaru

"The bad side [to social media] is that it's also a great source for disinformation," Mr. Berger says. There are groups out there that "want to scam you, rip you off, exploit you."

That said, social media can be an effective tool for finding a worthy cause.

For instance, people often want to donate after a disaster or big news event, but they don't know where to begin. The tweets and Facebook posts from charities and organizations after, say, a hurricane, flood or earthquake can give would-be donors information on what is happening on the ground and where and how to donate.

After the recent shooting of the young Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, GlobalGiving.org posted an image on its Facebook page of about 20 Pakistani girls saying "Education Is the Right of Every Child" with a link to a charity raising money to send girls to school in Pakistan. GlobalGiving vets charities from around the world and lists them by topic and region on its site.

Charity Navigator's Mr. Berger says there will always be an official charity for those situations, not a random individual reaching out. If a charity does seem legitimate with what it shares via social media, such as photos, videos or even inspirational quotes, take the next step to visit its website for more information.

Follow the Money

Social media also allows would-be donors to better gauge how their money will be spent—and, in some cases, get a glimpse of the work in action.

Such transparency appealed to Cubby Graham, a personal assistant for Northwest Ministry Network in Snoqualmie, Wash. Last year, Mr. Graham caught wind of a video link on Twitter about a water-drilling rig being set up in northern Ethiopia to expand clean-water projects. The video came from charity: water (charitywater.org) a New York-based charity that works on clean-water initiatives for developing nations.

He began following the nonprofit on Facebook and Twitter and eventually donated about $250 on the charity's website. He also has created two fundraising campaigns for clean water through charity: water's website, raising more than $2,000 from friends and family through his social networks.

Mr. Graham also signed up to get regular Twitter updates from the charity's employees, including its founder. Being able to "track the progress" on your donations impact is very appealing, he says.

If you sign up for regular updates, make sure that you can opt out whenever you desire.

Perhaps most useful for donors is the ability to spread the word about a cause they like as well as to offer feedback—the good and the bad—on how they think a charity is working toward its mission.

But if you start speaking up online, remember such information often becomes public. If you "like" a charity on Facebook or send it a tweet, expect the charity to get back in touch with you—and often. You may even hear from others who follow the charity on those sites.

It's also not a good idea to share details about how much you donated or how often if you don't want to hear from other charities seeking gifts.

Mike Monteiro, a designer based in San Francisco, uses Twitter to share information and updates about the financially strapped families that SmallCanBeBig.org, the Boston-based charity, is trying to help through donations. Mr. Monteiro says he first donated about $100 to the charity in 2009.

"The way I can help Small Can Be Big the most isn't by my own personal donations," Mr. Monteiro says. "It's by spreading the word."

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